Study of blood levels of Lactate, Vitamin D and Nucleated Red Blood Cells for early prediction of Hypoxic–Ischemic Encephalopathy: A cross-sectional case-control study

Background: Perinatal asphyxia is a serious medical condition in which there is a lack of oxygen or blood flow during, or even after the labor process. Methods A cross-sectional case-control study was conducted on 20 neonates with HIE comprising the cases (APGAR ≤ 5) and another 20 neonates representing the control group with their age, sex, and weight matched, admitted to NICU. Sarnat score was used to assess the severity of HIE. Results Venous blood levels of lactate and nucleated red blood cells per 100 white blood cells (NRBC/100 WBC) counts were significantly higher in HIE neonates than in the control group with a highly significant difference (p-value < 0.001). While serum Vitamin D was significantly lower in the HIE group than in the control (p-value < 0.001). Conclusion Serum lactate level, vitamin D level and NRBCs/100 WBCs might be used as biomarkers in the early prediction of HIE.